Russia hopes for Syria truce in Aleppo 'within hours'

Russia hoped Tuesday a new ceasefire could be announced within hours for Syria’s battered city of Aleppo, where fresh fighting including rocket fire on a maternity hospital left close to 30 dead. As the city was struck by some of its heaviest reported clashes in days, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said efforts were under way to agree on a freeze in the fighting. “I am hoping that in the near future, maybe even in the next few hours, such a decision will be announced,” Lavrov said after meeting UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura in Moscow.